The Best Bars In Hong Kong

Bar Leone

Named the No.1 bar in Asia and No.2 in the World’s 50 Best Bars in 2024, Bar Leone brings it back to basics— consistent, fast, and delicious. Defined by the concept “cocktail popolari”, industry legend Lorenzo Antinori pays homage to traditional neighbourhood bars in his hometown of Rome through nostalgia and precision. The design is effortlessly stylish—minimal but detailed—every element echoing Italian clarity and craftsmanship. Pair the Leone martini or yuzu negroni with a delectable mortadella sandwich, and you’ve stumbled into your own Roman corner bar. Laid-back but obsessively detailed, Bar Leone delivers soul, not spectacle. 

11-15 Bridges Street, Central, Hong Kong

Coa

If agave spirits were a religion, COA would be the altar. Boasting the largest mezcal and tequila selection ( a whopping 41-page menu) in Hong Kong, this bar is a gritty, glowing shrine to Mexico’s spirit culture. Try their holy grail, ‘La Paloma de Oaxaca’, a sharp hit of grapefruit with a smoky mezcal-tequila base, or experiment with their weekly cocktails that are based on a seasonal ingredient hand-picked by the team. The first bar to be thrice awarded the No.1 position in the history of Asia’s 50 Best Bars, its legacy is as bold as it pours. 

Shop A, LG/F Wah Shin House, 6-10 Shin Hing Street, Central

Gokan

Housed in a historic 19th-century ice trade building, Gokan is Japanese in essence but global in refinement. Every element—cocktail, cuisine, music, ambience, and service—is meticulously tuned to the philosophy of the five senses, drawing on Japan’s “big five” culinary principles. Founder Shingo Gokan recommends the ‘Rebujito’: an underrated cocktail made with dry manzanilla sherry, housemade pink guava soda, tonic, soda water, and a touch of marigold. 

30 Ice House Street, Central

Kinsman

A love letter to Hong Kong, this award-winning Cantonese bar brings centuries of culture into the glass through cocktails that draw from ancestral ingredients, culinary rituals, and memory. Its new menu, A Tale of Hongkongers, honours five indigenous communities through ten cocktails, each reimagined with flair. Don’t miss ‘Ode to Moiyan’, a soulful rose-and-red-beancurd blend mimicking braised pork trotters, or ‘Of Rice and Men’, a thrown cocktail based on white glutinous rice wine. Set in nostalgic interiors inspired by Wong Kar Wai’s In the Mood for Love and a curated food menu, Kinsman brings an experience that lingers long after the last sip. 

G/F, 65 Peel Street, Central, Hong Kong

The Old Man

The Old Man turns literary lore into liquid craft. Its two-part menu is a tribute to Ernest Hemingway’s works and many alter egos, where the drinks nod to his larger-than-life persona, both genius and daring. Standouts include the ‘Papa Doble-Clear’, a double rum daiquiri spun with grapefruit and a kick of jalapeño, and ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’, a rich concoction of cocoa-infused Batavia arrack and burnt butter rum. Adorned by batik wallpaper, a gold-lined communal table, and a tiled Hemingway portrait watching over you, the space feels more like a novelist’s living room than a bar— warm, witty, and slightly unhinged.

 Lower G/F, 37-39 Aberdeen Street, Soho, Central

Argo

Named after the mythical ship that carried Jason and his crew in search of the Golden Fleece, Argo is the Four Seasons’ boundary-pushing cocktail bar charting a course into the future. With AI-distilled gins and molecular-aged whiskeys, its cocktail program explores rarity and innovation. The Argo martini is frozen and flawless, while the pineapple highball plays it lush and light. Floor-to-ceiling windows frame the Victoria Harbour skyline, while the conservatory-like interior invokes quiet grandeur. It’s Greek myth meets luxury sci-fi. 

Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong, 8 Finance Street, Central

The Aubrey

Perched on the 25th floor of the Mandarin Oriental, The Aubrey is a layered experience in Kaizen— the Japanese art of continuous refinement. Here, forgotten classics such as the ‘Glory Gimlet’ and the ‘Noble Man’ are reborn, each delicately reworked with shochu, tea, and spice. Between sweeping skyline views behind gold-printed curtains and an English glamour meets Japonisme interior style, the energy shifts effortlessly from polished to playful. Inside, three bar experiences unfold: the main lounge, an intimate omakase section, and a sake and champagne bar. Don’t miss out on its novel Aubrey After Dark programming on Friday nights, which transforms the space into a sensual, sonic union with live and DJ sets. 

25/F, Mandarin Oriental, 5 Connaught Rd Central, Central

Quinary

At Quinary, classic mixology collides with gastronomy. Known for pioneering ‘Multisensory Mixology’ in Hong Kong, the bar uses high-tech methods like rotovap distillation and slow-cooked infusions to extract unexpected layers within their cocktails. The ‘Earl Grey Caviar Martini’ is their signature star— airy, citrusy, and popping with tea-flavoured spheres— while ‘Ruby Rogue’ dives deeper with sous-vide oysters and spice. It’s modern mixology in its most expressive form, housed in a raw, glowing, industrial space. You don’t just sip here, you experience. 

56-58 Hollywood Road, Central

The Savory Project

Remember Willy Wonka’s three-course dinner gum? The Savory Project is the grown-up, cocktail-forward version. Only here, the flavours are real and grounded in Asian culinary craft. Helmed by the minds behind COA, this bar flips the sweet-leaning cocktail canon for umami creations like ‘Thai Beef Salad’ (clarified peanut rum, beef essence, coconut water, bird’s eye chili, makrut lime), ‘Biryani’ ( ghee, biryani masala, tequila, plum, tonka bean, pineapple, peppers), ‘Gari Gari’ (pickled ginger, Japanese whiskey, passion fruit, ponzu, soda water) and more. Think miso, shiitake, and ponzu— pantry staples turned liquid provocateurs. Its custom hexagonal bar invites conversation, experimentation, and more than a few double takes. 

4 Staunton Street, Soho, Central

Penicillin

At Penicillin, sustainability isn’t a marketing hook— it’s the blueprint. As Hong Kong’s first closed-loop farm-to-table cocktail bar, it brews, ferments, and reuses nearly everything it serves, transforming kitchen scraps and local botanicals into high-concept drinks. Support by getting their ‘One Penicillin, One Tree’ drink, an ever-changing speciality that plants a tree in the Borneo rainforest with every order. Or ‘Diary of Young’, a delicate mix of honeydew-infused rye and goat milk whey. Housed in a moody, limewashed lab with tabletops salvaged from typhoon-felled trees, Penicillin proves that zero waste doesn’t mean zero flavour.

L/G Amber Lodge, 23 Hollywood Road, Central

Tell Camellia

In a city where yum cha is taken seriously, Tell Camellia takes it somewhere new. This hidden enclave under Pottinger Street fuses traditional tea ceremony with contemporary mixology, crafting “Tea Tails” like the ‘Teaspresso Martini’ (tea, not coffee), ‘Oolong Old Fashioned’, and ‘Tall Pine’ (cold brew sencha tea, sinso, pine, tonic, elderflower, gin). Each cocktail is rooted in the country of origin of a specific tea, from Sri Lanka to China. Their T&Tonic drinks are a blend of tea and gin, which are redistilled in-house. The space is lush and cosy— wood-panelled, green-lit, plush with velvet seating, and feels like a secret, best shared slowly.

H-Code, LG Shop 2, 45 Pottinger Street, Tung, On Wo Lane, Central